Mountain Home High School's Goliath is named 'David,' but it wasn't until recently that David Wehmeyer became a Goliath on the basketball court.

Wehmeyer, a menacing 6-foot-9, 250-pound, two-time all-conference selection in football had plenty of college gridiron offers, including several Division I programs.

"I had Memphis over there, and Tennessee," Wehmeyer said, "and Arkansas as a preferred walk-on. But when I got done with football I just wondered if I really wanted to do it for the next four years of my life. I took a beating this year. I just needed to rethink some things, and here I am playing basketball."

Wehmeyer averaged a double-double this past season for the Bombers in only his second varsity campaign. He garnered several performances with 20 or more points and 20 or more rebounds, including becoming the first Bomber in 25 years to score 40 points in a game.

"He came to me in the fall and wasn't sure if he'd be able to play basketball because of his shoulder injury," MHHS head basketball coach Josh Fulcher said. "He promised me that if he could play, he would. He loves the atmosphere. When he came in, it lifted the spirits of the program, because we had Luke (Jackson) and Garrett (Dietsche) out with injuries."

Wehmeyer's rekindled love for hoops led to his signing a National Letter of Intent on Monday to play basketball at Arkansas Tech University in Russellville, joining Bomber teammate Garrett Dietsche, who also signed Monday with the NCAA Division II Wonder Boys.

"We always joked that we might get to play together," Wehmeyer said. "Here we are, and it's actually happening."

Wehmeyer said he plans to major in agricultural business at Tech.

"Everybody knew who Garrett was because of summer ball and all that," Fulcher said. "David wasn't on as many people's radar. Garrett had just visited Arkansas Tech, and David said he was interested in Tech. I called (Tech) coach (Chad) Kline, and I said, 'look, I have a 6-10, 245-pound kid with a 24 on the ACT and a 4.1 GPA. Nobody knows about him, because he's been wanting to play football.' He said 'bring him down.' (Mountain Home) coach (Brad) Morris took him down there. They said he had some skills and they had offered him."

Wehmeyer had played only one season of pee-wee basketball and two years in junior high before playing football only his sophomore season.

"I quit my sophomore year to play football and put a little weight on," he said.

Wehmeyer, who had grown to 6-foot-7 by 11th grade, began to fall in love with basketball again, joining the team for his junior season.

"I grew really fond of it," he said. "I went home to my dad one day, and he always said I'd regret it if I didn't play. I would go home after a game and he'd say 'did you have fun?' and I'd shake my head and smile. I enjoy it a lot, for sure."

Wehmeyer never would have guessed he would be signing to play college basketball instead of football.

"It was never even an option," he said. "I was focused on playing college football. In December, I decided I might want to play basketball. I finally developed a role. Last year, I was kind of all over the place. I'd have a good game, then come back the next game and be kind of inconsistent. It was fun getting out there and playing a big role."

Wehmeyer's 40-point, 20-rebound game came against Jacksonville in district tournament play.

"This year, it turned out David had to be our go-to player," Fulcher said. "He was always going to be a force defensively, but we needed him to do more offensively. He kept us in a lot of games.

"I'm going to miss the leadership and presence he brought to our team," Fulcher continued. "He gave the team the confidence they needed. Last year, at Searcy, we're in pre-game, and he said 'I got you coach, we're not losing to Searcy.' The way he carried himself, I could see it in the others, too. His playing football, he brought that physicality to basketball, and we needed it."

Wehmeyer said his favorite memory of high school basketball was holding Morrilton to 33 points.

"I remember walking off the court thinking we could be pretty good," he said. "All the blocks were fun, too. Getting that reaction. My friends up in the crowd, hearing them up there."

Fulcher is excited for what the future holds for Wehmeyer, now that he will be able to play basketball more than four months out of the year.

"Imagine what he does when he gets to play basketball year-round," Fulcher said. "Tech is also getting two kids who they don't have to worry about getting in trouble all the time. It's great to see them play together."